English soccer fans have been waiting 22 years for Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona to apologise for his infamous "hand of God" goal against England during the 1986 World Cup.

Maradona's hand ball into the goal wasn't picked up by the referee, and Argentina went on to win 2-1, knocking England out of the World Cup after Maradona scored a second - but this time stunning - goal by weaving past five English defenders to bury the ball deep into the net.

It's hard to imagine that relations between Britain and Argentina could have worsened in the wake of the Falklands War four years before, but they did, and Maradona's hand ball fuelled a long and bitter rivalry.

At the post-match press conference Maradona said the goal had been scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God".

Now Maradona, who is visiting the UK, has said "sorry" in an interview with the British tabloid newspaper The Sun.

He reportedly said if he could go back and change history he would, but insisted the goal was still a goal.

Tom Wells is the reporter who interviewed Maradona through an interpreter.

"We simply asked him, if he had the change to go back and change the circumstances ... and apologise for what he'd done, and at the same time restore his reputation with all England's fans, would he do it," Mr Wells said.

"And he said yes, he said, 'I'd like to go back and change history if I could'."

Mr Wells says nothing was lost through the translation of the words.

"We actually said to him, 'bring your own interpreter because we don't want any confusion', so he brought along his own guy and his own guy gave us those statements in his own words," he said.

"So I think he was totally happy with what he said, it took a little bit of time to get it out of him. Stubborn man, but I think in the end he conceded that it was time to put it to bed and say sorry."

'Fantastic footballer'

But that goal was far from the minds of two English premier league players when Maradona dropped in for surprise visit at the Chelsea club training session this week.

Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell says Maradona is a childhood hero.

"In my opinion [he's] one of, well, the best player to ever grace a football pitch, so to meet him and get a picture is brilliant," he said.

Fox Sport presenter and commentator Simon Hill says the apology has been a long time coming, and Maradona hasn't lost any of his ability to outrage.

"Not only was he a fantastic footballer, certainly the best of his generation, arguably the best of all time - although Pele would have something to say about that - but he was always controversial," Mr Hill said.

"He got embroiled in drug scandals and once shot at reporters outside his house, and he's had hugely publicised battles with his weight in recent years, [and] befriended Fidel Castro in Cuba.

Mr Hill says Maradona's "hand of God" goal, and his other excellent goals, will be remembered for a long time.

"He's a very complex personality for a small kid that came out of the shanty towns of Buenos Aires, and this phrase, along with many other things that he contributed to the world of football, will be his legacy," he said.

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.